The Mystery of the Disappearing Blogger

Having coordinated virtual book tours for three years now, I've been able to pick up on some trends:

• The majority of authors are serious about online book promotion and have some level of involvement in their virtual book tours.
• Most bloggers want to do their best to create appealing blogs and posts for their readers.
• Most bloggers use some form of social networking to promote the content on their sites.
• Few virtual book tours will go off without a hitch, but the majority of issues are minor and easily addressed.

But the one growing trend that is alarming to a virtual book tour coordinator like me is the Disappearing Blogger. He/She can be a blogger you've been doing business with for a long time or one that you've just started nurturing a relationship with. He/She could have been blogging for months or years. He/She could be blogging every day. He/She could have a huge following of dedicated readers. He/She could have a blog with a unique and eye-catching appearance that makes readers want to stop by.

The one thing these bloggers have in common is that they request books from authors, publishers, publicists, or virtual book tour coordinators and then stop blogging without explanation. Repeated attempts to contact these bloggers are ignored for one reason or another--perhaps a family emergency--and you never uncover the clues behind their disappearance. You want to give them the benefit of the doubt, but you can't help but feel duped.

The Disappearing Blogger tarnishes the reputation of every blogger out there. He/She can cause authors, publishers, publicists, and virtual book tour coordinators to set more stringent guidelines for who will be allowed to review their books; so that even if a blogger has always met deadlines, he/she might not be eligible to review books of interest. The Disappearing Blogger calls into question whether online reviewers can be taken as seriously as reviewers for publications.

As a blogger and virtual book tour coordinator, I have seen the good that comes out of bloggers talking about and promoting books. I hope the trend of the Disappearing Blogger is one that fades fast.